David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' transformed into children's picture book

The David Bowie song "Space Oddity" probably shouldn't have been
made into a children's book: The haunting 1969 track about an astronaut who
loses contact with Earth to float around the universe would
probably give most kids nightmares.

That didn't stop illustrator Andrew Kolb from turning the space-rock song into
an illustrated book. As seen in the gallery above, the artist lays
down Bowie's hit about a spaceman in a "tin can" line by line. It
was an odyssey Kolb said wasn't as easy as one might imagine.

"It was one thing to make images that corresponded to the
lyrics, but it was another to try to make it function as a visual
story on top of that," Kolb said in an email to Wired. "In my early
drafts it didn't really work as a picture book, and that was my
goal all along."

"It's been really cool hearing all these different
interpretations of the lyrics, and all I can say is that the
approach I took was the one that translated best to an image-based
story," said the Canadian graphic designer. "Either way, how could
you not have fun designing spacesuits and jet packs?!"

Kolb's pretty incredible Space Oddity
book is available as a free download from the artist's website.
He said he hopes his handiwork will get enough support from the
Ziggy Stardust fan base that he can find a way to publish physical
copies of the book.

To experience "Space Oddity" for yourself, you can play the song
and flip through the pages on Wired.com.